Geographic profiling ia an invaluable tool for mapping the probable location where an offender most likely lives. This offender, like all of us, has areas of familiarity with respect to their profession and personal life that governs one's comfort zone, and therefore the commuter routes they opt for. These are factored into their way of thinking when considering any crimes that are to be committed or the areas where an offender may conceal a body. There is a delicate balance to be struck between the least effort principle (expenditure of the least amount of effort to accomplish a task) and the buffer zone (where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their home). In other words, they don't want to focus the attention around the place they live, but may equally not want to expend the effort in traveling a great distance, thereby creating a mental map of a target zone - usually somewhere with which they have a familiarity. Of course, factors such as their working week will affect the distance they are prepared to travel on any given day.

​This mental map was considered in the article Seventy One Days of Terror from October 11th 1969 to December 20th 1969, analyzing confirmed and unconfirmed letters, phone calls, murders and proposed murders during this time period. It became apparent that the locations targeted during this period, that included Sacramento, Fairfield, Vallejo, Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose, all have Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 101 running directly through them. This may give us a clue to the areas where the Zodiac Killer was most comfortable. If he frequented these areas regularly in his profession, then this could very well influence the newspapers he read and the stories he became interested in. The case of murder victim Reet Jurvetson in a previous article, another example of a crime conforming to the above criteria. He may not have murdered this young woman, but was familiar with the area in which she was murdered, which ultimately governed his decision to choose her as victim number eight - allied to his new found fascination of knife crime. She too was brutally stabbed 157 times and unceremoniously dumped down a ravine off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Her body was discovered just 2 miles from U.S. Route 101.

When the Zodiac Killer failed to acquire the "front page coverage" he craved, he may have drew inspiration from the murders of Debra Gaye Furlong (14) and Kathy Ann Snoozy (15), who were found brutally stabbed and murdered on August 3rd 1969 in the Bay Area of San Jose. They each had suffered in excess of 100 knife wounds that can only be described as savagery. In less than two months he would arrive on the shores of Lake Berryessa armed with a 12-inch bayonet. The killer wrote on the car door of victim Bryan Hartnell "by knife". On November 8th 1969, he claimed his involvement in the Snoozy-Furlong murders by the addition of "Aug" on the 'Dripping Pen' greeting card, followed by the November 21st 1969 San Jose letter possibly suggesting that Reet Jurvetson was another one of his knife victims. Then came the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" mailed from Fairfield on December 16th 1969, followed by the 'Melvin Belli' letter on December 20th 1969, stating he was losing control and looking for victims nine and ten.

On April 20th 1970 he was claiming a victim count of ten - so if we are to determine the murder victims or proclaimed murder victims of the Zodiac Killer, then we must take all of the above into account. Based on three of the four attacks to date, victims nine and ten may have been a couple. They would have been murdered between December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970, in a non-sexual attack that involved numerous knife wounds. It is also critical (whether the Zodiac Killer was responsible or claiming to be the responsible) that they would would be found close to Interstate 80 or U.S. Route 101.​On February 22nd 1970, John Franklin Hood (24), who had served decorated time in Vietnam in the 64th Armoured Division and Sandra Garcia (20), who worked in the California Department of Motor Vehicles, were discovered brutally stabbed on a beach close to Santa Barbara Cemetery and East Cabrillo Boulevard. This crime in some ways mirrored the stabbings at Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, with Sandra Garcia receiving the brunt of the vicious attack. The beach where their bodies were found, lies only 500 meters from U.S. Route 101. The mental map of the Zodiac Killer is starting to take shape.

I'd like to cast a vote for a nice package that combines 1) geographic profiling and 2) a modern whole body + face sketch that captures all of the verified eye witness descriptions. What are the number of Vallejo males of the correct age range from that time period, approx?

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Richard

7/15/2019 01:18:02 pm

This is what I posted on Zodiac Killer Site forum Art.

There were 52,000 white people classified in 1970. Roughly 25,000 would be men.
http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Vallejo70.htm

Age range 25-45 make up about 30% of the population based on USA population today.
https://www.infoplease.com/us/comprehen ... istics-342

Therefore 30% of 25,000 gives us 7,500 white males between 25-45.
Narrow that further using what we have learnt about Zodiac, driving license, possibly make of car, hand writing (assuming it wasn't disguised), height, weight, hair (not bald), criminal record, profession, my guess it wouldn't be too difficult to find him, as Kim Rossmo pointed out. If the investigation was in full swing today, and Zodiac was a resident of Vallejo in 69/70, I don't doubt for a second he would be identified.

Shift the age range to 35-45, or 25-35 and the field narrows considerably. Start with the narrow age range first, then move out.

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Richard

7/15/2019 01:21:02 pm

Using a 10 year age range, just a few thousand.

art

7/15/2019 01:58:53 pm

Wow that is fantastic. Is it possible to make a list of names based on records from back in the day? And if we then had a color computer graphic sketch to compare to DMV photos of that shorter list to narrow down even further??

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Richard

7/15/2019 02:15:33 pm

That is the problem Art, I have no way in the UK of securing such records. I wouldn't know if any regular citizen of America could achieve this either. A bunch of DMV licenses would be very handy.

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OH

7/15/2019 02:37:02 pm

Great stuff as usuaI

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Richard

7/15/2019 03:29:04 pm

Cheers, much appreciated.

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Michael

7/21/2019 08:17:22 am

Douglas Oswell followed such a statistical approach in his book years ago. It yielded Ted Kaczynski....

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Tom Moen

7/24/2019 06:41:15 am

I believe his brother tipped the the FBI

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BB

7/28/2019 12:48:58 pm

Ted's CIA code name is "lawful"
His code name begins and ends with an L
The double L is a put-in by The Zodiac
12th victim sought = Lass
Lass starts with an L.
L is the 12th letter of the alphabet.
12 signs in the Zodiac.
Lass was the Zodiac's 12th
Don Harden solved the cipher w/the double LL
The code has a large double L
Hartnell's car had Vallejo on it w/two L's
PauL AverLy w/line connecting the two L's
Darlene was just divorced from Jim Phillips (w/double L)
Lake Herman Investigation was headed by Detective Leslie Lundblad
Stine's cab had Yellow Co. on it
A year later of 10/27/70 he sent the Apollo 8 letter, two L's
There are dozens of these L's encoded into this
case from the Little List to Phillips 66 map
The connections to Ted's Cabin in Lincoln an hour north
of Deer Lodge are numerous. Other than Bruce Davis,
and Donald Lee Bujok though Ted is the only one of the top suspects
to actually kill people. I wonder if he had contact with Bujok?
"I want to report a murder, no, a double murder. They are two miles north of Park Headquarters. They were in a white Volkswagen Karmann Ghia" ... "I'm the one that did it". This statement sounds like it was made by a professional. The Zodiac liked to commit double murders. Double L in kill - The Lamp Lighters were the actors to perform the Mikado. He liked to kill couples at lovers lane.
Was it Ted? I don't know. He was asexual.
Some believe the Zodiac was asexual as well.
But of the suspects that do not have a kill on record. Jim Phillips has many circumstantial connections. Besides divorcing Darlene in 1966 he apparently confessed to being the Zodiac to his roommate. Then he changed his name to James Crabtree. His suspicious brother Rick was at the painting party. The two of them could be the Zodiac. I think that the case is much too vast to be the work of a single man. The killer knew Dee according to Michael Mageau his name was Richard. Rick is a derivation of Richard. Nov 23 1965 Rick shot his brother Paul.1965 Jim spends 6 months in The Presidio jail then Aug 1965 Jim met Dee on Larkin street. Lake Tahoe both worked at Harrahs. Dee worked as a waitress a block from where Donna Lass later vanished.

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BB

7/23/2019 11:38:20 am

Ted Kaczynski as a felon should have forfeited his rights - and therefore they should be able to get his DNA for a comparison with Zodiac DNA. If not they should change the law so that that could happen. There a ton of guys with felonies that we need to look at for many cases. Once you commit a felony you lose your rights. There are many cons sitting prison for other offences that we need to look at. To protect a murderer from legal jeopardy is crazy.

Kaczynski wasnt even close to the Zodiac profile... as Mark Hewitt and other fiction writers before him have fabricated for that nice fat paycheck.

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BB

7/28/2019 06:14:06 pm

Sully
I have a relative that was hardcore criminal.
There is a killer/dirty cop
https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/scully-anthony.htm
His real name is Jack Sully
but murderpedia has him down as Anthony Scully
Who knows?
Have you ever heard of this Anthony "Jack" Sully?

So is it my understanding that,the ''terms and conditions'' of Ted Kaczynski's plea deal was,that the prosecution would not press for the death penalty,if he came clean,on all his crimes.

Part of the ''terms and conditions'' were,that if Ted was later found to be guilty of a serious crime,then the death penalty was ''back on the table''.

Both in relation to the previous crimes that he had committed.....and any future ones,regardless of whether he plead guilty to those ''extra'' ones,for which he had not previously admitted,or not.

Though I don't know for certain...one presumes that,as a convicted felon,his DNA and fingerprint information would automatically be placed in various database ''banks'',including some international ones.

So,it does seem most unlikely that Ted would be foolish enough to have been involved,in any aspect of the Zodiac case....without having already admitted to it.

In addition,Ted K,as a sufferer from Aspergers syndrom....a form of Autism,struggled to even identify such nuances as irony,sarcasm and ''deadpan'' humour,that we have come expect in the Zodiac....let alone ''appreciate'' these warped forms of ''charm''.

For ''timeline'' and geographic placement,there seems to be a lot going for Ted K,as a Zodiac suspect.But that is information,''on the surface''.

Dig just a little ''below''....and there is nothing there.And I would suggest that law enforcement....already know this,as a fact,beyond reasonable doubt.

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Richard

7/23/2019 02:39:20 pm

All criminals should have their DNA taken, although this varies from country to country, and state to state. But you don't need Ted Kaczynski's permission to get his DNA. It is already available on the multiple letters he mailed during his bombing campaign.

It is certainly an interesting aspect to criminal law,in some States of the United States,that have the death penalty.

In effect,that although the concept of the death penalty,is in place as the ultimate deterrent and punishment....that,because it exists on those State's statutes....it can be used also as a plea bargaining tool,to fascilitate the whole truth out of a guilty defendant,more readily.

I believe that Dennis Raider [BTK] agreed to a similar deal,as Ted Kaczynski.

A ''one-off'' offer for their lives spared,in return for ''nothing but the truth''.

Empty optimism,perhaps,but if the Zodiac can be nailed for one murder conclusively....then his whole despicable story might be revealed.

Now,how many sleuths can honestly say that they wouldn't be happy about that [?]....even though their attitudes to the morality of the ''ultimate deterrent'',might vary.

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BB

7/24/2019 09:32:17 am

Deterrent?

Of course you know the notion of
the death penalty deterrent has been
well disproved? The death penalty is
an archaic vestigial organ of the legal
system. It is a vile broken disgrace.
It is meet out unequally and is proven
to be used on innocent men. There are
many examples of DNA forensics saving
men off death row in the nick of time.
Just think of all those that did not have the
DNA to prove them truthful saying "Not Guilty".

I wonder if you might be able to shed any light,Richard,over an ''unconfirmed'' Zodiac correspondence,from 1963....with postmark,apparently ''Palmdale'',California,near Lancaster [?].

The writer refers to the Kennedy assassination....I've seen it before,a few years ago...but cannot re-find it.There is a thread at zodiackiller.com ,but their access references are too old,to still be active.

It does seem to me,that the Zodiac was quite well versed about the assassination,and the subsequent ill-fated attempts,by Belli to defend Jack Ruby,after Oswald's ''lynching'',in custody.

This,in effect,why the Zodiac approached Melvin Belli,in December 1969.Belli,as someone who might understand the Zodiac's concerns,if he gave himself up.

Yes...supposedly,a December 3rd 1963 postmark.Just 10 days following JFK's death.

The only words,ever recorded by Ruby,officially,were : ''I got the call,and then knew what I had to do.''.

Ruby owned a small nightclub and,never a good businessman,was facing closure,through debt.He was known as a ''double snitch'',though associations with both federal agents and criminals.It is assumed that ''the call'' came from federal agents.A ''showcase''trial of Oswald,was not something,as perceived,that the nation needed,at that time....dragging ''Jackie'' through the mire,and public gaze.

Bearing in mind,the Zodiac's predilection to puerility,the antics of the ''North Hollywood Hoaxer'' tends to suggest that he was targetting ''Robert Strange McNamara'',as well as a number of celebrities of influence,including Randolph Hearst.

I note that Belli's full name is ''Melvin Mouron Belli''.

A few ''titters'' in certain quarters,over ''that'' middle name [?].

Reply

Toots

7/24/2019 05:29:28 pm

This is off topic...but I believe important regarding the Equinox letter.

I did some research on 'Full Aries Moon', which occurs 2 days after the Autumn Equinox, so on 9/24/1972 the full moon was in Aries. The Full Aries Moon is also called the Harvest Moon.

In Astrology, the Moon takes a little over two days to move through a Zodiac sign. Your Sun sign (horoscope) dictates your zodiac personality, while your Moon sign, the second most important influence in your horoscope chart after the Sun, represents your emotions, your inner mood.

Yes, Phil G. was born under the Aries (April) horoscope, but I believe this letter is more about a hint of a "disaster" that occurred on 9/24/72, and not written by Phil G.

Another attempt, I believe, that Zodiac tried to either implicate Phil G. or leek a connection between Phil G and E Salmina.

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